For the next dozen hands, the dealer would pretend to shuffle the cards.
When no one was paying attention, the dealer would secretly take two cards from the deck and hide them, then deal them to the young woman.
While this didn't guarantee a win, under the condition that the community cards didn't produce good or rare hands, the young woman, who started with a pair, was undoubtedly in the most advantageous position.
Of course, to avoid suspicion, the dealer didn't deal them consecutively, but rather interspersed them every three or four hands.
After stabilizing her top ranking, the expression in the young woman's eyes gradually relaxed.
Her relaxation meant I had to tighten up.
But the dealer was also helping her behind the scenes. If I wanted to break her rhythm of widening her lead and pull her down from the top spot, I would have to find a way to cut off the dealer first.
Otherwise, with the young woman consistently winning three out of ten hands, the points I had painstakingly caught up would surely be lost again.
During this time, there were two or three hands where I genuinely wanted to cheat to change the situation.
But in the end, I forcefully restrained myself.
There was no other reason. The community cards in the earlier hands weren't great, and the card combinations were very simple. The uncertainty of a rash card swap was too high.
For the next ten or so hands, I basically gave up without holding on until the end.
Watching the chips I won from the mature woman with the beard gradually dwindle…
My composure wavered for the first time.
At most, there was less than two hours left in the finals.
Although the mature woman was no longer a threat, the young woman's chips and points were steadily increasing.
This meant that the difficulty of pulling her down would become greater.
If I failed, the consequences…
Honestly, this final was the first time in my career of playing cards that I felt a sense of helplessness, as if I were stuck in a mire.
How to break the deadlock became the key problem I needed to solve…
…
The deciding round continued.
In this hand, I received quite good hole cards, Ace-King.
And they were both hearts.
When it was my turn to speak, I didn't hesitate and bet ten thousand chips.
No one folded; they all chose to call.
After discarding one card, the dealer began to deal the three community cards.
Ten of Spades, Queen of Hearts, King of Spades.
In Texas Hold'em, big cards like these (10 or higher), as long as they aren't a completely mismatched set, and have at least two of the same suit, are considered quite good.
Because players still have two crucial hole cards, whether it's spades or hearts, if one matches the suit, there's a possibility of a flush or even a straight flush.
So, I made up my mind that I would decide whether to risk cheating based on the final card layout.
However, before that, I had to guard against the young woman, acting nonchalant.
Otherwise, the young woman, who was currently flush with chips, would definitely pursue me aggressively.
After all, just before dealing the hole cards, it was the dealer's turn to use the "touch two cards" technique to deal to her.
The community cards were all big cards, and the young woman was going to… devour someone this hand!
After the community cards were dealt, when it was my turn to bet, I gently tapped the table, signaling to pass.
No one else paid attention. When the dealer signaled the young woman to bet, I saw her immediately pick up a chip worth one hundred thousand and toss it onto the table.
Earlier, because the young woman's style was so bold and expansive, no one was surprised by her sudden bet.
After pushing one hundred thousand chips onto the table, when the turn came back to me, only four people chose to fold.
After I called, there were six of us. Judging by the young woman's betting style earlier, if she were the final winner of this hand…
Then, I would have completely lost the opportunity to pull her down.
As I concentrated in thought, the dealer had already begun to deal the fourth community card.
A King of Clubs, another King!
Although the chances of a flush or straight flush were slim, and it would likely be a three-of-a-kind or a full house, if the young woman's hole cards were a pair, I would have a solid advantage over her.
Of course, the dealer wasn't always dealing her pairs; sometimes he would deal big suited cards, like Jack and Queen of Spades, or Ace and King of Spades.
To verify this conjecture, when it was my turn to speak, I suppressed the urge to bet and simply called out "pass."
Unexpectedly, the young woman also chose to pass.
Instead, the man with glasses behind her aggressively threw out five hundred thousand chips.
Before the river card was dealt, this bet of 500,000 immediately scared off two more people.
Six became two, leaving four.
However, the man with the beard, who was at the bottom with me earlier, retreated instead of advancing this hand.
Not only did he not fold, but he raised the bet to one million!
As the player with the lowest score on the table, the man with glasses didn't need any buildup or acting to conceal his eagerness to catch up.
The man with glasses' sudden raise made me, the bearded man, and the young woman all freeze, and then we all turned our gaze to him.
Ten, Queen, King, King. It wasn't hard to guess the man with glasses' hand if he was betting a million.
Either a pair or a flush.
If it was the former, it meant he already held a full house hand.
If I wanted to win, the only way was to cheat. Relying on the dealer to deal a King on the last card was clearly unrealistic.
After glancing at my hole cards again and considering for more than half a minute, I decided… to take a gamble!
I would perform the ultimate card-swapping skill in poker – "Stealing the Heavens and Changing the Sun"!
This was the ultimate card-swapping technique taught to me by Uncle Tuo, and it was also his signature move.
However, just as I was taking out a cigarette from my cigarette case and turning the lighter to its maximum, preparing to create an opportunity to swap cards while lighting it…
Suddenly, as the young woman was considering whether to call, I saw her right hand, which was fiddling with chips, tap the table rhythmically with her fingertips.
Her posture suggested she was thinking, but this subtle, almost imperceptible movement had never occurred before!
Under normal circumstances, many cheaters, when hesitating whether to call, would subconsciously make small gestures.
And from beginning to end, it would never be limited to just once or twice.
So I concluded that the young woman wasn't hesitating or thinking, but was sending a signal!
Who was she signaling to? The mature woman or the plump dealer?
And what was the purpose? To steal a card or swap a card?